


All The Time In The World

by halcyyonn



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Kiss, Minor Kataang salt, Minor Maiko salt, Mutual Pining, Zutara, Zutara Holiday Exchange 2020, zutara holiday exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28024773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halcyyonn/pseuds/halcyyonn
Summary: Peace is drawing closer each day, but Zuko and Katara are still struggling with their feelings for each other. With time running out before Katara returns to the Southern Water Tribe, they must decide whether they want to confess their feelings or keep them secret forever.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26
Collections: Zutara Holiday Exchange 2020





	All The Time In The World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mauve_Avenger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauve_Avenger/gifts).



> This was longer than I thought it would be, when I started writing I thought it would only be around 1500 words, but its around a thousand words longer. Enjoy!

While he hadn’t wanted to admit it, he had been in trouble since almost the first time he saw her. At first, it had just been some sort of begrudging admiration for the times she and her friends had beaten him. Then it had been some weird desire to protect her necklace after he found it on the prison rig, followed by slightly less begrudging admiration before finally, each encounter turned that admiration into a slight crush that Zuko refused to accept. Emphasis on slight.

After a while, he had stopped trying to regain his honour by capturing Aang and joined their team but being close to Katara just made his feelings for her more and more intense with each passing day. Even when he had returned to the Fire Nation before joining Team Avatar, he had lingering feelings for her, which only made his relationship with Mai that little bit worse. Everything she did reminded him of Katara except in the exact opposite way. Where Katara was passionate about her interests and caring about her friends and family, Mai appeared largely emotionless and jumped at the chance to leave her family behind the second she could. Despite knowing her his entire life, after so much time away Zuko found it hard to read Mai or her very, very subtle emotions. She was a good friend, but so much had changed. Too much to go back to the way they had been before.

Not to mention that Mai represented everything that trapped him in the Fire Nation; the not speaking without being spoken to, the constant emphasis on honour and status and the class hierarchy. But Katara was so different from that. She was willing to go to the ends of the earth for the people she cared about, and she had proven that time and time again. Her emotions were clear on her face; anger, sadness, happiness, everything. As much as he tried to avoid comparing them, sometimes thoughts crept into his mind that he couldn’t control.

He had chances to show Katara how she felt, but he never wanted to make her feel trapped. Instead, he offered chances for her to make the choices she wanted to make, rather than being forced to make them by the ticking clock or by the needs of someone else in their group. Like when they searched for her mother’s killer, he just allowed her to follow what she thought was right, rather than forcing more of Aang’s ‘forgive and move on’ philosophy onto her.

Then there was the Agni Kai. He had thrown himself between Katara and a bolt of lightning without thinking, without hesitating. At that moment, he didn’t care about what happened to him. Zuko just wanted to save Katara from his sister.

Being hit by a lightning bolt hurt just as much as when his father burned his face. At least this time it had been his own choices that put him in danger’s path, but when he saw Azula still approaching Katara a whole new type of pain hit him square in the chest. He was about to die without telling Katara how he felt, and despite throwing himself in front of lightning to save her, she was still in danger. How cruel could the world get? All this time of shoving his feelings down, just for it to end like this.

On the other hand, Katara didn’t realise the extent of her feelings for Zuko until she saw him take a lightning bolt for her. It was like everything came crashing down onto her, from everything Zuko had done to how much he had changed from the exiled prince to the person he was now. It was almost like he was two completely different people.

And she couldn’t live without this new version of him.

How had she not noticed her feelings before him? They were just so _everywhere_ , permeating everything she did. But she had been so caught up with getting Aang ready to fight the Fire Lord, then dealing with Aang’s romantic feelings towards her that she hadn’t noticed, had barely had a moment to herself to properly think.

Even now she didn’t have the time to stop and think. Azula was coming towards her, and quick. If Katara didn’t start moving now she would get cooked where she stood. But she had to save him. Her conscious would never let her hear the end of it if she let Zuko die because she couldn’t stand up to Azula. She had to fight. If not for herself, for Zuko.

Her own actions were a blur right up until the cold ice she had created surrounded herself. Then she just had to unfreeze the water around them enough that she could move to chain Azula to the grates below them. It worked perfectly. Azula had been defeated in her own Agni Kai and was trapped, screaming in defeat, spewing bright blue flames into the air. After everything that had happened, it was almost over. Peace was swiftly approaching.

But it had come at such a high cost. Zuko was lying on the ground, unmoving. Katara sprinted over to him and pulled water around her hands. She had healing abilities, but this was normal water against a lightning bolt straight to the abdomen. The odds were against her, and very much against Zuko.

Just as Katara was about to lose the last drops of hope she had been holding onto, Zuko opened his eyes slightly. Katara could feel her entire body sag in relief but she couldn’t stop healing until she knew Zuko was strong enough to recover fully. Only when Zuko spoke to her did Katara finally feel like everything was going to be alright.

After the Agni Kai came Zuko’s coronation. He still needed more time to heal, but the Fire Nation needed a new leader after Ozai’s defeat, and the war needed to end. The sooner Zuko accepted the crown, the faster peace could come. Katara still insisted on helping Zuko prepare for his coronation despite Mai’s protests. Fortunately, Zuko didn’t seem to mind the change in plans.

If only Katara knew what Zuko was really thinking. But no, if their paths were destined to diverge, Zuko would allow Katara to leave without trying to keep her by his side by trapping her with his feelings for her. When it was time for her to return home with her family, he would wish her safe travels and bid her farewell with a heavy heart that was a burden only to him. No one else needed to know.

Their proximity made it hard for Zuko to concentrate on anything except for Katara. She was checking the bandages on his chest and the lightning wound underneath, trying to ensure nothing would get worse during the coronation. The look of concentration on her face was adorable. Where had that thought come from? He had to keep his thoughts away from Katara, somehow. It wouldn’t be easy, but he had done things that were much harder. He just had to think about other things… like how he was about to become Fire Lord.

But then his thoughts drifted back to the Agni Kai and Katara, then from Katara defeating his sister to thoughts about how amazing Katara would be as Fire Lady. Zuko almost slapped himself. They were both still teenagers, and why would Katara want to rule the nation that had killed her mother? She had almost killed the man who was responsible, but the war was so much more than just one person following orders born from violence and an extreme thirst for power.

And he was going to change everything. That was his destiny, more so than capturing the Avatar and regaining the type of honour his father had created ever was. He could control his own destiny and honour, as well as restore the honour of the entire Fire Nation. It was time for a change in many ways.

While he wished that telling Katara his feelings for her was one of those changes, he knew it never would be. Just as he picked his own destiny, she deserved to pick hers without something like feelings influencing her. He had already seen the way Aang had been acting towards her in an attempt to get her to fall in love with him, and he had seen how uncomfortable Katara had been.

Could she really tell him how she felt and then return to the Southern Water Tribe? On one hand, that seemed cruel, but she couldn’t stay in the Fire Nation forever, either. There was work to be done at home. But she wouldn’t be able to keep pushing her feelings down, trying to convince herself it was the ‘right thing to do for the world’. Spending so long with the looming final battle hanging in the balance had taken a toll on her, as well as her emotions.

No. She could suppress her feelings for Zuko, just for a short while. Soon, they would be apart with months between when they saw each other and it would be easier then. Much easier. She just had to manage until then.

And she did. Everything went fine. The coronation was fine, Zuko healed well, the war was over and peace was quickly approaching. Katara and Sokka were going home tomorrow morning, and while Katara couldn’t wait to see her home and everyone else from the Southern Water Tribe again, she was going to miss her friends and their adventures. And she was going to miss Zuko. Probably more than she should.

In one final attempt to take her mind of their departure, Katara was strolling through one of the hallways of the palace, examining everything closer than she usually would. It didn’t keep her mind of Zuko, though.

Katara was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Zuko walking up behind her. Overnight, he had decided that he couldn’t keep his feelings for Katara a secret, especially without knowing when they would see each other again. He had spent much of his afternoon searching for her, finally stumbling across her here, beneath portraits of past Fire Lords. “Katara.”

His voice caused her to jump more than she would have liked, but she turned and smiled like everything was fine, despite the feelings surging through her heart. This was the way it had to be, this was the best way forward. “Hi, Zuko.”

“Can I talk to you about something?” His palms were sweating. This was it. Either Katara would feel the same way or she would leave tomorrow, a ruined friendship of his own doing between them. But no, he had to be optimistic, even if it seemed like he was being wishful.  
  
“Of course.” A bench on the other side of the hall seemed to call to them, for both Katara and Zuko gravitated towards it. The distance between them wasn’t much, but it felt like a chasm in the earth keeping them apart.

“We’ve been through a lot together. And we’ve done a lot of important things together.”

“I guess we have. You’re helping Aang bring peace to the world. That’s pretty important.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I didn’t want to talk to you about peace or how well everything turned out.”

Could she hope? Surely not. “What did you want to talk about?”

Zuko swallowed, feeling like he was on fire, which was unusual for someone who controls fire. “I like you, a lot. More than I like anyone else. Not that I don’t like the rest of our friends, I just like you in a… different way.” That was terrible.

“I don’t know what to say, Zuko.”

“I think I love you, Katara. No, not think. I know, and you’re leaving tomorrow, so I had to say this today, and even though I did a horrible job and probably misread the situation horribly, I wanted to tell you. Not that you have to do anything about it, in fact, if you don’t feel the same way I’ll never speak of it again, I just wanted to say it. Once. Because I don’t think I could let you leave without knowing, and I don’t know how I could watch you move on with your life without me. That sounds so selfish, but I can’t help it.”

He felt the same way about her that she did about him. How? She had thought it impossible, but here he was, rambling about his feelings to her in an empty hallway in his palace. Was she dreaming?

Without thinking, Katara reached out and placed her hand on Zuko’s cheek. He was real. This was real. Which meant his feelings for her were real as well. She had to say something. Anything, really, at this point. Zuko looked like he was about to start rambling again or start pacing the hallway, but Katara spoke first. “I love you, too, Zuko.”

At her words, Zuko gave her the brightest grin he could ever imagine himself giving. His feelings were returned! Before he could stop them, more words came tumbling out of his mouth. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

Katara giggled nervously and Zuko felt like his heart was about to burst. Then Katara leaned closer, whispering, “I do, too.”

They moved towards each other as their eyes fluttered closed. Their lips met and both Zuko and Katara felt a rush of emotions. How hadn’t they told each other this before? All this time spent pining could have been spent together, confident of the others feelings, and their own. But they had been oblivious, and only just opened up in time.

Too quickly they needed air once more, and they pulled away, choosing to rest their foreheads together instead. Neither of them could think straight, stupid grins on their faces. Zuko seemed to be the first to find words. “This is nice.”

“It is. I’m glad one of us was brave enough to say something.”

“If I had known how well this would go, I would have said something a lot sooner.”

Katara moved her hand from Zuko’s cheek to wrap her arms around him, prompting Zuko to follow suit. “I’m sure if either of us knew this would be the outcome of a romantic confession, we would have said something a long time ago.”

“Maybe we should have asked a fortune teller.”

“Aunt Wu did predict I would marry a powerful bender.” It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, causing Zuko and Katara to blush. “Not that we’ll… I’m not saying… forget I said anything.”

“How about we wait and see where life takes us? We still have plenty of time.”

“We have all the time in the world.”

“I suppose we do.” Zuko leaned down and kissed Katara again, just enjoying the feeling without having the worry about anything else. It was just them, together, the rest of the world fading away around them. It was perfect. Despite everything that had happened, despite how opposite fire and water were supposed to be, their little world was perfect.

And nothing was going to change that.


End file.
